Brands Hatch, 09 September 2007
Brands Hatch, the circuit I was looking forwards to as I seem to go better here. Indeed both my class wins have occured at Brands Hatch so hopefully this would be the time I finally did Rover some justice. A late sign-on meant a leisurely drive from home in the morning, some oft-missing common sense from Brands Hatch put the signing on area in the paddock for a change. So the day started well, and even the scrutineering queue went down with decent haste.
The LMA Euro Saloon & Sports Car series has gone from strength to strength this season and Brands was to prove another such occasion. A 34 car entry was more than the circuit licence could cater for in a race, so for the second time this season, the LMA racers were split. This time it was A, B and C in one race, and D & E in the other. The difference was that D & E would race in a combined grid with Class E from the Alfa Romeo Championship Association (ARCA) series. More bizarrely, we would line up on the grid together, but then we would set off 15 seconds before the Alfas. Plainly this meant a rolling start would not be possible, so for the first time in LMA Euro Saloon & Sports Car series history, we would be performing a standing start!
Qualifying:
Time constraints brought about by the shorter days meant there was no time to have a separate qualifying session, so all 34 LMA Euro Saloon & Sports Car series cars went out together - you guessed it, it was very crowded out there.
I had expected this but my best laid plans to get over to the assembly area early in the group - and thus out on track near the front - were thwarted as I was caught unawares by an early call for noise testing. In the end I end up somewhere around 20th going out. No mind, the next mission was to get on with before the serious lapping started and we would have to get out of the way. I went out with Matt Speakman's Clio, Will Goff's Lotus Exige and Jason Tarling's Clio in front of me. The first lap pace was slow as drivers warmed their tyres but this didn't fit in with my plans. Rounding Clearways, Jason ran wide and slow so I passed him and then followed the Exige past Matt. And getting completely carried away, I passed the Exige before the start line - if only it was this easy during the race.
By Clearways I was closing right up on Steve Scott's Escorth Cosworth (yeah right, I know) but as the track straightened up I was treated to a display of Cosworth power, the sort the kappa would have struggled to live with, and he simply disappeared into the distance. Two laps done but then the cars behind started passing compromising any attempt to get on with a decent clear lap. Thought we were going well, but still can't get the lap timer to work (do these tracks run beacons? do I have to get a manual timer - babe with pit board?) so had little to gauge times with. Six laps in I got good drive out of Paddock, a good run through Druids and no-one was close enough behind to slow me. Go for it - and as I came down the straight towards the finish line, there was the red flag. What was possibly my best lap wouldn't count. Paul Overton had gone straight at Paddock and there's no way out of the gravel when that happens.
Picture courtesy of James Roberts
A ten minute wait in the pit lane meant everything was cooled down. Of my main competitors, Chris Brogden had arrived in his newly acquired Honda CRX but sadly that was in the pit lane after just 2 laps. Next down was Pongo, parked up on the outside of the pit straight. A few laps later I came across Jason Newman, smoke pouring ot of the back of the Peugeot, and a nice line of oil doing the same. Can't believe Jason's luck, 2 engine rebuilds in two races, now this. And soon there would be no-one to play with!
The results were disappointing - yes, I had got Rover into the 59s, but just the once. And very strangely after Jason had left his oil trail half way round the track - figure that!
Class DE race:
We lined up 11th on the grid, last of the LMA cars but with seven more Alfas parked up behind. Chris hadn't managed to get out, but Jason and Simon manged to repair their cars and line up in 9th and 10th. I had no idea how to do a standing start in Rover, but (one of the many) ex-owner Mark Nicholson gave some advice. He also countered Matt Speakman's (another ex-owner) advice of which gear to take Paddock - 4th seemed so much more sensible as entering in 3rd meant changing up while still heading for the green bit Dr. JP says we can't use.
The start was what you would call neutral - then again starting last its hard to lose places. Pongo got a flyer and stormed down the inside of his nemesis Mark Hammersley. I tried to follow down the inside but was being squeezed by Jason - he was passing Yaser's Clio which was outside him, and I followed him through past Yaser. So not last then!
226bhp Peugeot power took Jason past Mark coming out of Graham Hill, the following lap he did the same to Pongo leaving Rover chasing the Fiesta, the Nova a few lengths in front. The scene was set for a great battle. The three of us ran in close company, Rover was faster through the Esses, slower down the straights. Finally on lap 8 the Fiesta lightly kissed Pongo exiting Druids and then cut inside at Graham Hill to make the break. Now it was my turn to sit behind Pongo and try to figure how I was going to get passed. Eff was performing Team Pongo pit-board duty - I was running that close I figured the times would apply to me to. 59.1 was best I saw and that was a worthwhile improvement on qualifying if I had done the same.
Lap 11 and there was a chance. Pongo took a wide line into Druids, Rover went for the inside - but not quite close enough. Try again the following lap, this time Rover was slightly closer and we went round Druids side by side, but Pongo's better drive from the outside meant the position was defended again. Lap 13 and Rover got better drive out of Paddock and was right on Pongo's tail going up to Druids. This time the move stuck, but Mark was now 2 seconds clear.
Picture courtesy of Snappy Racers
The rest of the race was spent trying to make up that deficit but mostly we were posting similar lap times. Even when Simon Taylor came through to lap us, neither of us gained an advantage on the other. Two or three laps from the end and it was our turn to lap people as Mark and I caught the rearmost 2 Alfas. The gap was now down to a second but Mark was matching anything I could do. On the last lap Jim Mepham came through to lap us and take second place, closely followed by the Integras of Nigel Ainge and Mark Nicholson just passing me before the line.
So 6th in class and 7th overall, more importantly we got every lap after lap 3 (bar the last where I moved wide round Clearways to be lapped) below 60 seconds, with a number of them in the 58s. That's more like it.
Championship wise, we moved up into 3rd place in Class D with 86 points, Jason had to retire with high water temperature - but at least this shouldn't be terminal this time. So Jason remains on 82 points and Mark Nicholson moves up to 80. But neither Jason nor Mark have played their joker so realistically if either of them finish race 2 at Snetterton next time out, they will move past me.
Class A-C race:
The other race turned out to be a cracker with Derek Hale triumphing in a three car battle at the front. Peter Challis looked to have held onto second until running into the gravel at Paddock and conceding the place to Mal Davison who had been on his bumper almost all race long, Challis recovering to take third place
Big news of the day is that Simon Taylor is now champion! His total of 258 points can be matched by Mal Davison if the latter wins both races at Snetterton and the former no-scores, but Simon would still win the title by dint of most race wins. Our congratulations to Simon, a worthy champion (again!)
Visit the LMA site for details of the LMA Euro
Saloons championship and standings so far.
Check out the current points
standing.
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